Couple of questions...

Hi Ladies,

How's it going?  I just thought I would post a few things I had been wondering about and see if anyone had any input.

1) Sydnee is approaching 16months old.  She is still using her soothie binky.  I have never had a binky baby before.  I am sure that if she continues using it, I am going to get some unwanted 'feedback' from people.  I have been trying to keep it away from her during the day and only use it when she is going down for a nap or bed.  Unfortunately, we have to use it in the car, too.  Another thing is, the older kids are constantly giving it to her.  Any suggestions on how to stop her binky addiction???  lol

2) Sydnee is still small.  She has been teetering around 18-19 lbs for a while.  I don't know her exact weight, but I will when she goes for her 15 mo check-up and shots (she is going a month late due to a cold she has been fighting)  She is a good eater, but a not a very good drinker.  Sample day:

Breakfast - Stoneyfields whole milk organic baby yogurt, mixed with baby cereal 
               or Nutrigrain bar and a whole banana or baby cereal mixed with applesauce and milk. 
              or 1 egg w/ cheese 1/2 piece of toast

Snack - cheesestick or crackers

Lunch - Gerber graduates raviolis, chunky sweet potatoes & carrots, or green beans
             or ham & cheese & crackers and apple chunks or peaches

Snack - fruit gummies, cookie, or fruit of some sort

Dinner - usually whatever we are eating... protein, starch, veggie type meal

She drinks a warm milk bottle on the way to bed, and sometimes one around 4-5am, the rest of the day she has Juicy Juice harvest juice or apple juice or water.  She won't drink milk cold and usually not during the day.  I have tried chocolate, strawberry, vanilla, and organic.  Just doesn't fly with her. 

Does this seem like enough food?  There are many times when she i****ting us up for a bite of our food, so of course we give it to her.  Last time she was in for her check-up, doc wasn't concerned because she was following along her own curve.  I am just concerned because she isn't even on the growth chart. Should I push for further investigation when we go for her check-up or just be ok with the fact that she is going to be "petite"??

Thanks for the input ladies.  Have a great one!

B

Hey Bridget,
Sounds to me like she is a petite princess. Her eating looks good, veggies, fruits, variety, etc
Emad is the same way with milk. He does not like it anyway or with any flavor in it so we have to sneak it into foods and he does like yogurt, pudding, cheese etc. I have even tried 2% thinking maybe the whole milk was too thick coming from being BF and he never did formula but no luck. He will drink the yogurt based milk drinks. He also has a low weight for his age but he is now on the chart and in the 30th percentile I think. My pedi like yours said he is following his growth curve and seems to be growing in height more than weight so that also contributes to it. I have thought about Pediasures but since he is doing well with food am holding off. He is overall a good eater and does pick here and there so I think it all depends.

As for the binky my advice is 2nd hand as Emad never took one no matter how hard I tried.
My brothers children, both his daughter (9) and son (4) took binkies and had them until the age of 3. They provided them comfort and helped with naps, etc. My sis in law tried to make sure it was never taken away as a punishment or given as a reward so they did not associate it with good or bad. She weaned them off from wanting it full time to slowly just maybe car or naps to then none at all. My niece gave hers to Santa for all the other babies to have and my nephew gave it up for Emad who was born 5 days before his 3rd b-day (HE did pick up on the fact that Emad never used it though and wanted it back...lol)
I think if there are no issues with her teeth, chapping of lips, etc like I saw on a horrid case on Super Nanny she is still okay. It would be the same as a kiddo with blankie or lovey toy if you ask me. Maybe you can start weaning her off to using it only at night or naps and see how she does.

HTH!

Thanks for responding Samara.  =)  It's funny that some kids just don't dig milk.  She really didn't like formula either.  I nursed her until she was 6 months, and I would have gone longer but she was giving me fits trying to get her to sit still long enough for a feeding.  I worry that because I didn't get enough formula into her after she stopped breastfeeding that is why she is small now.  Honestly, she was only eating 4-5 ozs of formula at one time and that was only after I changed her to ready-to-feed.  She would only eat maybe 2oz of the powder stuff. 

I have a canister of the 9-24month powder still on hand.  I sometimes sneak a scoop of it into her cereal & yogurt in the morning or in with her cereal and applesauce.  She also takes a liquid vitamin that her pediatrician prescribed.  I put that in her cereal, too.  She won't take it straight LOL.  It has fluoride in it, because our county doesn't add it into the water. 

I don't have a problem with her using it.  It hasn't caused any problems with her mouth or teeth that I can see.  I just don't want to "hear" from the inlaws or other people about her using her binkie.  When everyone was here for our wedding in October I overheard comments that they were making in regard to my best friend and her little girl.  (Not harsh comments, but just comments) She is going to be 3 in Sept and is still using her binkie.  I even try and take the bink out of her mouth when we are taking impromptu pics, because I don't want them to know she uses it regularly. 

That is really cute that your nephew wanted his binkies back when he saw Emad didn't use it.  LOL  Funny how perceptive kids are at that age.

Hugs
B

My last 2 did not have pacifiers but I have heard to have a ceremony where you get rid of them all and that is it. In a few days she will forget she ever had them. On the other hand, I have never been bothered by the sight of kids with pacifiers. If it is comforting to them who should care?

I have no idea how to tell how much fluid Riley is getting since he is still nursing but other than nursing he drinks about 12 oz a day of water, natural juice, and tea. He takes little sips of my tea, I don't give him it as a fluid.

Riley is really small too. He eats 2 eggs every morning and the last few weeks he is hungry for more. He eats a whole yogurt, 1/2 a nutrition bar at a time. When he eats spaghetti or chicken (his favorites) he can eat about 1/2 cup or 2 chicken legs. We have a dog who eats what he drops though so I can't tell sometime if he ate a lot.

Reagan is 4 and she did not really drink cows mil****il this year. There really is not a need for a lot of milk so I wouldn't worry too much.

I think she is fine. If the doctor is not concerned I wouldn't be either. Good luck with the binkie. I just need how to take the boob away. I could have a ceremony and throw them away.... LOL

I kinda wish I would have kept breastfeeding her... but it got to be very difficult.  At least I know she liked boobie milk.  LOL

I know it consoles her, too.  I don't mind her having it... I just know that some people put a negative spin on binkies and I don't want to hear the criticism.  I mean if needed I would tell them what for, but I like to avoid confrontation if possible.

Syd likes to drop stuff for our dogs, too.  Guinness is tall enough to just take it right off of her tray if he wanted... but he is pretty good at not doing that.  He won't look a gift toss in the mouth though.  HAhaha

Oh and you can't be tossing the boobs in the trash.  LOL Syd used to use me as her pacifier, too.  That is how I ended up in physical therapy for 6wks with problems with my neck and shoulders... I was constantly nursing her. 

B

I am not much help on the binkie issue (or dinky as he is called in our house! LOL!) Bailey is 21 months old and still has hers. We figured that it is pointless to take it from her now since Isabella will more than likely have them too. We are like you - bed time only (and sometimes if she is being a total pill in the car too!).

Her eating habits sound like Bailey's - however I think you have a petite princess on your hands (that is a good thing right?! :) ) Bailey is 32" tall and 30 lbs right now - she is in the 90% for all 3 categories - where did my 5 lb 9 oz baby go??? LOL! 

I think it is funny, she drops it and then says Uh-oh... she also hides them around the house so she has them when she needs them.  LOL

They grow up too fast, Dawn. 

B

My cousin had her girls make a "binky bear". She gathered up all of there paci's and took the girls to Build a Bear, when they were putting in the stuffing the girls put in the binkys. They were fine after that, because they knew that as long as they had there bear they had there binkys.

Charlotte gave up the binky at about 6 months, so that isn't an issue in our house (we have others - lol); however, the "binky bear" idea sounds very cool!  Hopefully it works for someone else, too.

That is a cute idea... perhaps if she goes for longer to the point where she would understand that a bit better, we'll try it.

Thanks
B